Fermented liquor



Patented July 2, 1940 FERMENTED LIQUOR No Drawing.

Richard M. Draeger, Beaver Dam, Wis.

Application March 27, 1939,

Serial No. 264,486

3 Claims.

The invention relates to improvements in fermented liquors andparticularly to the production of a flavored fermented alcoholicbeverage.

- An object of the invention is to produce a 5 fermented liquor havingas its base a fermented solution but none of its original natural tasteor odor.

Another object is to provide an efiective process for conditioning andflavoring a solution extracted from a fermented mixture, in which thenatural odor and flavor have been eliminated.

Another object is to'provide a simple and effec-- tive process forproducing fermented liquors.

The foregoing and such other objects of the invention as will appearhereinafter will be more readily understood from a perusal of the following specification:

Theinvention relates to a fermented alcoholic liquor, containing as itsprincipal ingredient a fermented solution which has been treated toactivated carbon to remove substantially all of its original naturalodor and taste, and then carbonated and flavored.

By activated carbon, as used herein, is meantare removed, but also allof the original natural odors and tastes, leaving a practically neutralor substantially unfiavored odorless fermented solution. This neutralfermented solution is then carbonated and any suitable flavoringsubstance is added to produce a fermented liquor. having a true flavorwhich may be bottled and distributed in individual packages like otherknown bottled beverages a V Although, primarily, it is intended thatbeer wort, brewed in the customary manner and then rendered neutral bytreating it with activated carbon, forms theprincipal ingredient for thepresent fermented liquor, it will be. obvious that any fermentedsolution may be similarly treated after having substantially all itsnatural tastes and odors removed.

Therefore, the present invention concerns itself primarily withneutralizing a fermented brew and then adding any desirable flavoringsubstance to produce a fermented alcoholic bevtion; such as, subjectinga fermented beer wort erage having the characteristics of liquor ratherthan those of beer, but devoid of the holic content of a liquor.

The process for producing a liquor, having as 7 its principal ingredienta fermented hopped-wort (beer wort) solution, is illustrated bythe fol-5 lowing example: I

Although beer wort maybeproduced by any of the many well understoodprocesses, one method is, to put about 34 lbs. of crushed malt in 12gallons of water at a water temperature of 28 R. lo Either brewers maltor distillers malt may be used, although it is preferable to use thelatter because of its greater diastaslc power. This mixture, togetherwith about lb. of calcium sulhigh alcophate and lb. of lactic acid, isagitated in a mash tun where the temperature is raised within 15 minutesto 38 R. The mixture then is allowed to stand and the temperature isheld constant. After standing. about 30 minutes, the mixture is mashedand the temperature raised, so within ten minutes, to 428 R. About 12%lbs. of corn flakes are'then added and, when dissolved, the mixture ismashed slowly at about 48 R. for about 15 or 20 minutes.

The agitator in the mash tun is then operated as slowly for about 25.01to minutes while the temperature is slowly increased to 59 R, Duringthis agitation, the mixture is thoroughly mashed to convert all thestarch in the mash. The agitator is then stopped and the mixture isallowed so to stand and settle for about 35 minutes after which periodthe extractive wort solution is drawn ofii into a clean kettle andboiled vigorously for about one hour.

If desired-about /5 of a pound of hops may 35 be added and thehopped-wort boiled for approximately another hour and then allowedtocool. When the temperature reaches approximately 15 F. about lb. brewersyeast is added and the whole is allowed to ferment while the room 40temperature iskept at about F. After fermenting from 40 to 48 hours,about 46 lbs. of dextrose (sugar) is added to the partially fercentedhopped-wort and fermentation is allowed to continue until the end pointof fermentation 45 is reached. The resulting product is beer wort.

The length of time required for fermentation may be shortened byreducing the malt content and proportionally increasing the dextrose content or by adding one-half of the dextrose-to the so hopped-wort onabout the fourth day of fermen= tation and the balance on the sixth day.

After'the beer wort has stood for about twelve hours, it is placed in anopen vessel equipped with an agitator and about 1 lb. of activated carasbon is added. The mixture is agitated ,for about one hour. Aftersettling for about twelve hours, the beer ,wort is flltered and cooleddown to about 1 R. i

As a result of this treatment, the beer wort has lost substantially allof its original natural odor and taste and is neutral. This fermentedsolution, or neutral beer wort, constitutes a principal ingredient inthe present fermented liquor and is referred to hereinafter as the base.

The base constitutes a mixture of alcohol and water and, except for itssmaller alcoholic con,-

tent, it is identical to the product that comes from.

distilling a'fermented mash. It is then carbonated with about threevolumes of gas.

To produce a flavored fermented liquor, 1 oz. of soluble dry gin flavor,for example, may be added to one barrel of base and the resulting liquorwill be, in effect, that of gin and charged water. Or, 5% gallons ofcocoa cola syrup may be added to one barrel of the "base" to produce, ineffect, a cocoa cola highball. Similarly, other fruit syrups or extractsmay be added in proper proportions to produce a fermented liquor havingthe character of a fruit highball.

It is preferable that the fruit syrups or extracts used be free ofalcohol so, as not to increase the alcoholic content of the liquor overthat normally produced by the fermentative process, which will be about11% by weight or l3 by volume.

The flavored fermented liquor may be bottled To produce an all dextrosebase, 7'7 lbs. of

dextrose may be added, all at once, to one barrel ofboilingwatercontaining M; lb. calcium sul 'phate and 'lb.'lactic acid, and thenboiled for two hours. If desired, one-flfth lb. of hops may be addedafter the aforesaidmixture has been boiled for about one hour. After themixture has cooled' down to about 15? R.., lb, of

brewers yeast is added and the mixture is set to ferment in a roomtemperature of about 80 F. After fermenting from 40 to 48 hours, about46 lbs. of dextrose is added and the whole is allowed to ferment about10 days or until it reaches its end point of fermentation. If a morerapid rate of fermentation is desired 'the '77 lbs. of dextrose may beadded gradually in smaller quantities, v such as, about l0 lbs. per dayduring fermentation.

The fermented mix is allowed to stand for about -12 hours and is thenplaced in a vessel containing an agitating device and then one lb. ofpulverized activated carbon is added. After agitating for about one hourthe mix is allowed to stand'for about 12 hours and then is filtered andcooled down to about 1 R. The resulting solution, which now is odorlessand has a neutral taste, constitutes the base for further processing.The base is then carbonated with about three volumes'of gas and flavoredas previously outlined, to produce the fermented liquor.

Another base may be produced by treating a fermented fruit juice or wineto activated carbon to remove substantially all. of its original tasteand odor. As .for example, the juice of about 300 lbs. of fruit, such asgrapes, is boiled down and then cooled to about 12 R. and placed in aclean tank in a fermenting cellar. About /2 lbs. of very highattenuating yeast is added and fermentation is allowed to set in. Onabout the flfth day, about 26 lbs. of dextrose is added .lnbefo'redescribed.

While pure dextrose is perhaps preferable,' and most widely used in theindustry, it should be understood that any sugar, such as molasses,syrup, glucose, etc., may be substituted therefor in adequateproportions wherever such sugars are indicated and, therefore, the termdextrose" as used herein is intended to embrace suchsub- 'stitute sugarsas are available or preferable.

One advantage in neutralizing the beverage and subsequently flavoringis: that, the final product has a true natural flavor as distinguishedfrom the fermentive taste present in most fermented beverages. v

Although several mixtures from which the base may be produced have beenoutlined in all. their steps, it should be understood, as notedhereinbefore, that any fermented mash or aqueous solution may be treatedto a sufficient quantity of activated carbon to remove substantially allof its natural odors and tastes and then be carbonated and flavored toprovide a fermented liquor having all the characteristics, except as toalcoholic content, of a distilled fermented mash, and it is therefore,not desired to limit the invention to the examples elected for thepurpose of disclosure except insofar as such examples are specificallyrecited-in certain of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A process, for making a fermented liquor,

consisting of treating a fermented solution with solution with activatedcarbon to produce a substantially tasteless extract and then carbonatingand flavoring said extract.

3. A process, for making an alcoholic beverage,

consisting of adding dextrose to a fermenting duce a neutral tastingbase, carbonating said base,

and then flavoring the carbonated base.

. RICHARD DRAEGER.

